Mode-based access control method and device

ABSTRACT

Provided is a mode-based access control method that includes: making a security mode list which indicates security setting states of devices existing in a home network; setting a specific security mode selected from the modes on the security mode list; and making the devices perform functions thereof in the specific security mode. Also, provided is a mode-based access control device includes: an authentication unit which checks information on a user and authenticates the user; a mode configuration unit which makes a security mode list indicating the security setting state of devices forming a home network; a mode setting unit which sets a specific security mode selected from modes on the security mode list; and an operating unit which causes the devices to perform functions thereof in the specific security mode.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a Continuation Application of U.S. application Ser.No. 11/500,889, filed Aug. 9, 2006, which claims priority from KoreanPatent Application No. 10-2005-0073433 filed on Aug. 10, 2005, in theKorean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

Apparatuses and methods consistent with the present invention relate tosecurity setting in a home network environment, and, more particularly,to a mode-based access control method and device that enables securitysetting according to various modes by a user's (or an administrator's)decision, and allows user-specific access control, and that overcomesthe inconvenience of a conventional method of operating security deviceby device in home network.

2. Description of the Related Art

A home network is characterized by frequent changes of access to homenetwork devices by a host and guests. In general, except in the case ofnot needing a special security setting, different access levels have tobe established according to type of user (e.g., parents, children andguests). For example, parents are allowed to use devices for adultcontent without limitation, but children have limited or no access tosuch content, which is decided by parents. Access control is alsorequired for guests, so that some special devices or digital motionpictures limited to family members are not allowed access to. Theconventional method for setting the security of a home network isillustrated in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B.

FIG. 1A is a diagram illustrating the configuration of access control ofhome network devices according to the related art. A conventionalmechanism is described in FIG. 1A, in which a controlled device(hereinafter, referred to as “CD”) 10 only allows a control point(hereinafter, referred to as “CP”) 20 to control its functions throughan access control list (hereinafter, referred to as an “ACL”) 10 a. Asecurity console (hereinafter, referred to as an “SC”) 30 edits ACL 10 aof the CD 10 and performs security setting.

FIG. 1B is a diagram illustrating the security operation of home networkdevices according to the related art. A UPnP system is used as anexample of a home network, and a security operation between a secure CD10 and a secure CP 20 for controlling the secure CD 10 will be describedbelow.

First, a discovery process is performed between the secure CP 20 and thesecure CD 10 (S10), which is classified into: an advertise process inwhich a new secure CD 10 is connected to the home network and introducesitself to other devices over the home network; and a discovery processin which a new secure CP 20 is connected to the home network andsearches the secure CDs 10 operating in the home network.

Second, a description process is performed (S20). In this process, inorder to control the secure CD 10, the secure CP 20 requests the secureCD 10 to transmit a service description XML file or a device descriptionXML file. After receiving the requested description XML file (UPnPdescription of a device, UPnP description of a service) from the secureCD 10, the secure CP 20 parses the received file.

Meanwhile, the secure CP 20 acquires a public key from the secure CD 10(S30), and then sets a session key (S40). Then, the two devices continueto perform their functions under such security conditions S50. That is,since security setting is performed for every device in the homenetwork, the same security setting is maintained regardless of users.

According to the above-mentioned conventional home network securitysystem, the security setting of every home network device has to bere-edited whenever a host having a right to set the services of devicesis changed, which is very troublesome and time-consuming.

In addition, an additional process is required to allow home networkdevices to provide a specific service to a guest device throughoperative connection to the guest device. However, according to therelated art, this process is also troublesome and inconvenient. Thereare various types of home devices capable of being operatively connectedto a guest device. However, in this case, information of the guestdevice, which is changed whenever a guest accesses the device, has to bemapped to the home network devices in order to edit the ACLs of thedevices.

Thus, according to the conventional system, it is difficult for homenetwork users to individually perform security setting, and thus it isnecessary to perform security setting such that every home network usercan control all home network devices at the same time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is made in view of the above-mentioned problems ofthe related art, and an aspect of the invention is to provide amode-based access control method and device capable of simplifying aprocess of setting the security of various types of home devices andcollectively applying to all home network device security settingrelated to a specific security mode set by a host.

The present invention will not be limited to the above-mentioned aspect.Other aspects not described herein will be more definitely understood bythose skilled in the art from the following detailed description.

According to an aspect of the present invention, a mode-based accesscontrol method includes: making a security mode list which indicatessecurity setting states of devices existing in a home network; setting aspecific security mode selected from the modes on the security modelist; and making the devices perform functions thereof in the specificsecurity mode.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a mode-basedaccess control device includes: an authentication part which checksinformation on a user and authenticates the user; a mode configurationpart which makes a security mode list indicating the security settingstate of devices forming a home network; a mode setting part which setsa specific security mode selected from modes on the security mode list;and an operating part which causes the devices to perform functionsthereof in the specific security mode. The mode-based access controldevice may further include a mode converting part which converts thesecurity mode when the authentication of a new user is performed or theauthentication of the existing user is released.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above aspects and other features and advantages of the presentinvention will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplaryembodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1A is a diagram illustrating the configuration of access controlfor home network devices according to the related art;

FIG. 1B is a diagram illustrating a security operation between the homenetwork devices according to the related art;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a home network system including amode-based access control device according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 3A is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a mode-basedaccess control device according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3B is a diagram illustrating a mode configuration unit of amode-base access control device according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a security-mode configuring process ofa mode-based access control method according to an exemplary embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a security-mode setting process of amode-based access control method according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a security-mode converting process of amode-based access control method according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 7A, FIG. 7B and FIG. 7C are diagrams respectively illustratingdevice-unit setting, service-list-unit setting, and task-unit setting ofa method of setting service item values of devices according to anexemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a security-mode setting methodaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Subject matter and features of the exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention will be covered by the detailed description and accompanyingdrawings.

Advantages and features of the present invention and methods ofaccomplishing the same may by understood more readily by reference tothe following detailed description of the exemplary embodiments and theaccompanying drawings. The present invention may, however, be embodiedin many different forms and should not be construed as being limited tothe exemplary embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these exemplaryembodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough andcomplete and will fully convey the concept of the invention to thoseskilled in the art, and the present invention will only be defined bythe appended claims. Like reference numerals refer to like elementsthroughout the specification.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a home network system including amode-based access control device according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention. All devices of the system are set in a specificsecurity mode A, with a device 1, a device 2, and device 3 forming ahome network system being connected to a user A, a user B, and a user Cby a mode-based access control device 100. The mode-based access controldevice 100 receives information on the users A, B and C, andsynchronizes ACLs included in the devices 1, 2, and 3, so the user A whohas all access rights in mode A controls device 1, device 2 and device3.

FIG. 3A is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a mode-basedaccess control device according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention, and FIG. 3B is a diagram illustrating a modeconfiguration part of the mode-based access control device.

Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, the mode-based access control deviceincludes an authentication part 110, a mode configuration unit 120, amode setting unit 130 including an SC function unit 135, an operatingunit 140, and a mode converting unit 150. The mode configuration unit120 includes a mode editing unit 122, a device list administrating unit124, a mode list administrating unit 126, and a device ACL editing unit128.

First, the authentication unit 110 authenticates a user after checkinguser information. That is, a user needs to be authenticated as a hostuser who has administration rights for a home network in order to changea mode. The authentication unit 110 checks information of a user whowants to use the mode-based access control device 100 of the inventionthrough a specific device, and when a user is authenticated, it allowsthe user to operate the device.

The mode configuration unit 120 serves to prepare a security mode listpresenting the security setting states of home network devices, whichincludes four components.

The mode editing unit 122 edits the security mode list by adding a newsecurity mode or removing an old mode. This unit is also a module forchanging details of each security mode in the list, and, in particular,different ACL setting details by applicable devices are stored in thesecurity mode.

The device list administrating unit 124 constructs each devicecorresponding to each security mode in the list. In addition, the devicelist administrating unit 124 manages information on devices connected tothe mode-based access control device 100 of the invention. Inparticular, when the device information varies, the device listadministrating unit 124 updates the device list on the basis of thevariation in information.

The device ACL editing unit 128 is a module for collecting ACLinformation of each device provided by the device list administratingunit 124. Specifically, the device ACL editing unit 128 provides the ACLinformation of a corresponding device and edits the ACL of the device,in order to set a service item value for the device.

The mode list administrating unit 126 is a module for administrating alllists of modes which are newly created by the host user, including basicsecurity modes (for example, a parent mode, a child mode and a guestmode, which will be described below). The mode list administrating unit126 reflects ACL information provided by the device ACL editing unit 128and the edited ACL content to the security mode list.

The service item value for device can be set by: a device-unit-settingmethod for setting the service items and the conditions of the serviceitems on the basis of the devices; a service-list-unit setting methodfor setting the conditions of the service items and a list of devicescontaining the service items, on the basis of the service items includedin devices; and a task-unit-setting method for preparing a list of taskforming service items on the basis of the task which a host user wantsto perform.

The mode setting unit 130 is a module which allows a user to select aspecific security mode applicable to all the devices in the home networkafter user authentication. The mode setting unit 130 sets a specificsecurity mode among those in the security mode list. According to thesecurity mode selected by the mode setting unit 130, ACLs of connecteddevices are synchronized or changed. The details of the mode selected bymode setting unit 130 are used for the SC function unit 135 to changethe ACL of the actual device. Meanwhile, mode setting can be changedeither directly by a user or automatically by the task to be performedby the user.

The SC function unit 135 synchronizes the ACLs of all the devices thatare in the set security mode. The ACL synchronization should beperformed to support a normal operation of devices by reducing memoryand CPU usage. That is, the ACL synchronization is performed to preventdeterioration in performance and waste of space due to the storage ofmultiple ACLs, including members who do not access the network, in alimited memory.

The operating unit 140 allows the devices to perform their functionsaccording to the specific security mode. Specifically, the deviceshaving the ACLs synchronized by the SC function unit 135 perform theirfunctions according to the service item values.

The mode converting unit 150 changes the present security mode if a newuser is additionally authenticated or the authentication of the presentuser is released.

Particularly, under such conditions that all or some of the home networkdevices are set in the security mode A and are synchronized, if the userB is authenticated and tries to set and synchronize all or some of thehome network devices in the security mode A, the mode converting unit150 compares a priority between the security mode A and the securitymode B, resets and synchronizes all or some of the devices in a securitymode having a higher mode priority. If the authentication of a user whohas reset the security mode having a higher priority is released in thehome network, the security mode having a lower priority is automaticallyreset, and the devices are synchronized.

The flow of a mode-based access control method will be described in thefollowing. The flow is divided into: a first step of forming a securitymode list representing the security setting states of home networkdevices; a second step of setting up a specific security mode selectedamong those in the list; and a third step of making the devices performtheir functions in the set specific security mode. The first step isillustrated in FIG. 4, the second step is illustrated in FIG. 5, and thethird step is illustrated in FIG. 6.

Further, a fourth step of changing the security mode when theauthentication of a new user is performed or when the authentication ofthe current user is released may be additionally included.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a security-mode-configuring processof a mode-based access control method according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the authentication unit 110 authenticates a userafter checking if the user has a right to configure a security mode list(S102). After authentication, the mode editing unit 122 adds a new modeto the security mode list or removes an old mode, thereby editing thesecurity mode list (S104). The mode can be added or modified by a hostuser, and default modes can also be rearranged if necessary. Thisediting is performed to provide a user environment most suitable for ahost user, since the connection types of family members or a third partydiffers from each other in every home network environment.

The device-list-administrating unit 126 forms a target device group bysearching and adding devices corresponding to each mode listed on thesecurity mode list (S106). The device list administrating unit 124 setsthe service item value for each device (S108) on the basis of ACLinformation provided by the device ACL editing unit 128 (S108), whichwill be reflected in the security mode list again (S110). The serviceitems of a device can be set by: first, a device-unit-setting method forsetting the service items and conditions for the service items on thebasis of devices; second, a service-list-unit setting method for settingthe conditions of the service items and device lists containing theservice items on the basis of the service items included in devices; andthird, a task-unit-setting method for setting a list of service itemsforming a task on the basis of the task to be performed by a host user.The device-unit-setting method is described in FIG. 7A, theservice-unit-setting method is illustrated in FIG. 7B and thetask-unit-setting method is illustrated in FIG. 7C.

FIGS. 7A, 7B, and 7C are diagrams respectively illustrating threedifferent methods of setting the service item values of a device, thatis, the device-unit-setting method, the service-list-unit settingmethod, and the task-unit-setting method, according to an exemplaryembodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7A, the device 1 is composed of three service items:an ‘adult channel”, “time”, and a “maximum volume”, and the conditionvalues of the service items are also represented. The device 2 iscomposed of two service items: “power” and “temperature”. Referring toFIG. 7B, three service items: “adult channel”, “time” and “volume”, andthe condition values of the service items are listed on the servicelist. A list of the devices capable of providing the service items isrepresented on the right side. The service item “adult channel” can beprovided by the device 1 and the device 2, the service item “time” canbe provided by devices 1 to 3, and the service item “volume” can beprovided by device 2 and 3. Referring to FIG. 7C, a service list is madein the task unit set by a user. For example, the service items “channel”and “time” are provided for an item “movie”, and service items “volume”,“track” and “time” are provided for an item “music”. In addition,service items “heat” and “hot water” are provided for an item “cooking”.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a security mode setting process of amode-based access control method according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention.

First, the authentication unit 110 checks whether a user has a right toset a security mode (S202), and the mode setting unit 130 selects asecurity mode that the authenticated user wants to set (S204). Inparticular, the SC function unit 135 synchronizes ACLs of all thedevices that the selected security mode can be applied to (S206). Theoperating unit 140 causes the devices having the synchronized ACLs toperform their functions according to the service item values (S208).

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a security mode converting process of amode-based access control method according to an exemplary embodiment ofthe present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6, there are three devices: a device 1, a device 2 anda device 3, and two users: a user A and a user B. First, the mode-basedaccess control device 100 of the invention sets the devices to aninitial mode (S302). Then, when the user A selects a security mode A byusing the mode-base access control device 100 after being authenticated(S304), the device 1, the device 2, and the device 3 in the home networkare set to the security mode A and then synchronized (S306). Under thiscircumstance, if the user B selects a mode B by using the mode-basedaccess control device 100 after being authenticated (S308), themode-based access control device 100 sets the device 1 and the device 2to the security mode B, and synchronizes the devices 1 and 2 accordingto the characteristics of the mode (S310). At this time, the modepriorities of security mode A and the security mode B are compared, andthen all or some of the devices are re-set to a security mode having ahigher priority, and are then synchronized. In FIG. 6, since the mode Bhas a higher priority, the devices will be reset to mode B, not mode A,even though user B is authenticated later than user A.

The mode priority is determined by the limit of authority of a userallowable between the modes. For example, a user with less authority ismore limited in the use of authority, and therefore the mode priority ishigh. That is, the mode priority is a standard applied for competenceamong a plurality of modes, and is a variable determining which modewill be selected under the condition of requiring higher security.

Meanwhile, when the authentication of the user B who resets the deviceto the security mode B with a higher priority is released in the homenetwork (S312), the device is reset to the security mode A, and is thensynchronized (S314).

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a security mode setting methodaccording to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. In thepresent embodiment of the invention, security modes include a parentmode, a child mode and a guest mode. The parent mode can be set by onlya host user who has unlimited authority to access all devices forming ahome network. In the child mode, access to some of the devices or someof the services or content provided by the devices is limited. In theguest mode, access to all the devices forming a home network isprohibited except for a host user who is allowed temporary access. Thus,among these three modes, the guest mode has the highest mode priority,followed by the child mode and the parent mode.

For example, when the parent mode and the guest mode are set together,conversion to the guest mode should be performed, so that the securitysettings of all devices are strict.

Referring to FIG. 8, access authority depends on the security mode. Forexample, the guest mode has the highest mode priority, and the parentmode has the lowest mode priority, resulting in the structure shown inthe table of FIG. 8. In the parent mode, only parents have accessauthority. In the guest mode, parents and a child can share accessauthority, or either parents or a child has access authority. In thechild mode, only a child user has access authority. If necessary,parents and guests can be granted access authority. The security modemakes it possible to collectively set the security modes of deviceswhile keeping high efficiency.

It should be understood that the scope and spirit of the presentinvention can also be applied to a computer readable recording mediumhaving therein a program for allowing a computer to execute the methodaccording to the above-described exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that variousreplacements, modifications and changes may be made in the form anddetails without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention as defined by the following claims. Therefore, it should beunderstood that the above-described embodiments are not restrictive, butillustrative in all aspects.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, it ispossible to provide intuitive and united security settings in a homenetwork system. Different security settings are possible based on thecharacteristics of each user regardless of the variety of securityfunctions provided for every device, which makes it possible to easilycontrol devices operatively connected to each other.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, itis possible to improve the convenience of use by simplifying thecomplicated and repeated authentication processes, which means a onetime user certificate process is enough for mode conversion in everydevice, indicating that there is no need for a user to take everyauthentication process in each device for security mode conversion.

According to still another exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention, it is possible to prevent waste of resources by synchronizingACLs and to prevent users other than the present user from accessingdevices.

The effects of the present invention are not limited to the exemplaryembodiments set forth herein. It is to be understood that other effectsof the present invention not described hereinbefore will be defined bythe appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A mode-based access control method comprising: making a security mode list which indicates security setting states of devices existing in a network; setting a specific security mode selected from security modes on the security mode list; and making the devices perform functions thereof in the specific security mode by collectively changing the security setting states of each of the devices based on the specific security mode, wherein the making of the security mode list comprises: performing user authentication to check whether a first user has an authority to make the security mode list; if the first user has authority to make the security mode list, editing the security mode list by adding a new security mode to the security mode list or removing an existing security mode from the security mode list; wherein the security mode list is modifiable by the first user, and wherein the setting of the specific security mode comprises: performing user authentication to check whether a second user has authority to set the specific security mode; if the second user has authority to set the specific security mode, setting the specific security mode that the second user wants to set.
 2. The mode-based access control method of claim 1, wherein the mode-based access control method further comprises converting the specific security mode when authentication of a new user is performed or authentication of a current user is released in the network.
 3. The mode-based access control method of claim 1, wherein the security mode list comprises: a parent mode which is set by only a host user having unlimited authority for access to all the devices forming the network; a child mode which is set by a child user having limited authority for access to some of the devices, services or content provided by the devices; and a guest mode which is set by a guest user that cannot access all the devices forming the network but who has temporary access granted by the host user.
 4. A mode-based access control device comprising: an authentication unit which checks information on a first user or a second user, and authenticates the first user or the second user; a mode configuration unit which makes a security mode list indicating security setting states of devices forming a network, if the first user has authority to make the security mode list; a mode setting unit which sets a specific security mode selected from security modes on the security mode list, if the second user has authority to set the specific security mode; and an operating unit which causes the devices to perform functions thereof in the specific security mode by collectively changing the security setting states of each of the devices based on the specific security mode, wherein the mode configuration unit comprises: a mode editing unit which edits the security mode list by adding a new security mode to the security mode list, by removing an existing security mode from the security mode list or changing an existing security mode in the security mode list, and wherein the security mode list is modifiable by the first user.
 5. The mode-based access control device of claim 4, wherein the mode-based access control device further comprises a mode converting unit which converts the specific security mode when the authentication of a new user is performed or the authentication of an existing user is released.
 6. The mode-based access control method of claim 4, wherein the security mode list comprises: a parent mode which is set by only a host user having unlimited authority for access to all the devices forming the network; a child mode which is set by a child user having limited authority for access to some of the devices, services or content provided by the devices; and a guest mode which is set by a guest user that cannot access all the devices forming the network but who has temporary access granted by the host user.
 7. A mode-based access control method comprising: making a security mode list which indicates security setting states of devices existing in a network; setting a specific security mode selected from security modes on the security mode list; and making the devices perform functions thereof in the specific security mode by collectively changing the security setting states of each of the devices based on the specific security mode, wherein the setting of the specific security mode comprises: performing user authentication to check whether a user has authority to set the specific security mode; if the user has authority to set the specific security mode, setting the specific security mode that the user wants to set, and wherein the mode-based access control method further comprises converting the specific security mode based on a result of comparing mode priorities of the security modes.
 8. The mode-based access control method of claim 7, wherein the mode-based access control method further comprises converting the specific security mode when authentication of a new user is performed or authentication of a current user is released in the network.
 9. The mode-based access control method of claim 7, wherein the security mode list comprises: a parent mode which is set by only a host user having unlimited authority for access to all the devices forming the network; a child mode which is set by a child user having limited authority for access to some of the devices, services or content provided by the devices; and a guest mode which is set by a guest user that cannot access all the devices forming the network but who has temporary access granted by the host user.
 10. A mode-based access control device comprising: an authentication unit which checks information on a first user or a second user, and authenticates the first user or the second user; a mode configuration unit which makes a security mode list indicating security setting states of devices forming a network, if the first user has authority to make the security mode list; a mode setting unit which sets, according to the user, a specific security mode selected from security modes on the security mode list, if the second user has authority to set the specific security mode; and an operating unit which causes the devices to perform functions thereof in the specific security mode by collectively changing the security setting states of each of the devices based on the specific security mode, wherein the mode configuration unit comprises: a mode editing unit which edits the security mode list by adding a new security mode to the security mode list, by removing an existing security mode from the security mode list or changing an existing security mode in the security mode list; and wherein the mode based access control device further comprises a mode converting unit which converts the specific security mode based on a result of comparing mode priorities of the security modes.
 11. The mode-based access control device of claim 10, the mode converting unit converts the specific security mode when the authentication of a new user is performed or the authentication of an existing user is released.
 12. The mode-based access control method of claim 10, wherein the security mode list comprises: a parent mode which is set by only a host user having unlimited authority for access to all the devices forming the network; a child mode which is set by a child user having limited authority for access to some of the devices, services or content provided by the devices; and a guest mode which is set by a guest user that cannot access all the devices forming the network but who has temporary access granted by the host user. 